The Pool Safety Compliance Rules in Queensland, Australia

October 20, 2016 4:59 am

Swimming pools should be fun but drowning is one the of most frequent causes of death in Queensland, Australia for children under the age of five years old. As supervision of children is of the highest importance, pool safety laws can save lives.

Starting 30th of November 2015, a single pool safety standard is currently enforced in Queensland. All pools, including portable pools, need to comply with the standard. The standard covers such things such as the strength of barriers, non-climbable areas, gates and latches, and preventing direct access from a building into a pool area.

To assist in finding out if your pool meets the standards, we provide some examples of minimum requirements.

The minimum height from the ground level to the top barrier is 1200mm. The maximum allowable gap from finished ground level to the bottom of any barrier cannot exceed 100mm.

If your horizontal rails are at minimum 90mm apart, the gaps in the horizontal rails must not exceed 100mm, so you are in conformity with the standard.

Climbable objects must be at least 900mm from the top pool barrier on the outside and 300mm on the inside.

Pool gates must not open inwards towards the pool area and must be self-closing and self-latching from all positions.

Latches on the gates must be at least 100mm high from ground level or if they are located on the inside part of the gate, they must be a minimum of 150mm below the top of the fence and must also be covered with a 450mm radius shield.

There must be no direct access from house door to the pool area.

A current CPR sign must be displayed either attached to the barrier of the pool or displayed near the pool so that the sign is easily visible to anyone near the pool.

All pools in Queensland must be registered with the qbcc.qld.gov.au. The Pool Safety Register is just another initiative protecting young children.

If you are selling or leasing your property with the pool, then you have some further obligations with regards to your pool safety certificate and you can find this information at qbcc.qld.gov.au.

Pool laws are vital so it’s really important that you get yourself up to speed. If you are in doubt whether your pool complies with the standard, then you may consider engaging a pool safety inspector to visit your home. You can search for a certified pool inspector in your area on the QBCC website listed above.

Kidal D. is author at LeraBlog. The author's views are entirely his/her own and may not reflect the views and opinions of LeraBlog staff. Chief editor and author at LERAblog, writing useful articles and HOW TOs on various topics. Particularly interested in topics such as Internet, advertising, SEO, web development, and business.